FG Decries Poor Implementation Of WASH Prog

The Federal Government has lamented over the poor implementation of rural water and hygiene programme by state governments.

Minister of Water Resources and Sanitation, Professor Joseph Utsev made this known at a round table organised for the seven participating state governors involved in the project in Abuja.

According to Professor Utsev, being on the third year of the six year programme disbursements were still not encouraging.

He added that the main aim of the meeting was to enlighten state governments on what is expected of them and their benefits from the world Bank project.

He further explained that the campaign will be extended by visiting the governors in their respective states to see what is on ground and how it could be improved.

“The basic reason for this round table is for us to call on the seven governors to educate, sensitise and motivate them to know how far we are on the programme and the governors have expressed their commitments during the meeting and we are not relenting. We are going to visit all the seven state governors and their states to show us what they have on ground and we can then explain more and put in the right direction of what is expected of them” the Minister added.

The minister who called on other state governments to key into the WASH programme added that dividends of President Bola Tinubu’s administration will be extended to all Nigerians.

In his presentation, the Governor of Katsina state, Dikko Umar Radda said the meeting came at the right time as it will give the state governments a clear indication as to what they are supposed to do to benefit from the world Bank.

Governor Radda added that the issues of hygiene and provision of water in rural areas are very critical to the welfare of Nigerians which called for urgent attention.

Umar further explained that if the issues of sanitation and availability of clean water are addressed, especially in rural areas, there wil bel be a reduction in the cases of waterborne diseases in the country.

“If these issues can be achieved, it will reduce the influx of patients in the hospitals. We are really trying to get the clear understanding of the project, challenges and where the state governments need to improve so that effective utilisation of this resources can be made for benefits of our people”, Governor Radda stated.

“There is low implementation because the programme started for about two years now, but the results on ground are not encouraging. Even though Kaduna State came out first among the participating states but the results are too poor in terms of the implementation because it is just forty percent while we are expected to be at about seventy percent or above” the Governor emphasized.

On his part, the World Bank Country Director of SURWASH, Mr. Ndiame Diop stressed that approximately 60 million Nigerians do not have access to basic drinking water Services, 80 million people washing facilities while millions of others lack access to improved Sanitation facilities, 167 million Nigerians do not have access to basic and washing facilities and approximately 48 million Nigerians still practice open defecation.

According to him only 8 percent of the population practice save wash project and only 10 percent of the population have access to basic water, Sanitation, hygiene services combined noting that this shows significant challenges faced in improving WASH services and called for increased investment in the sector.

The Roundtable meeting had in attendance the Governors from the seven participating states, World bank, Commissioners for Water Resources, Ministry of Health, Minister of Women Affairs, Secretaries to state governments as well as stakeholders in the water sector.

Georgina Humphrey, Edited By Grace Namiji